moe. - Musikfest Cafe - 07.17.11

There are certain nights where everything clicks perfectly. The great thing about moe. is these nights can occur at any random time. Last Sunday in Bethlehem PA was one of those sleeper shows. It was the first sellout for the Musikfest Cafe. The venue offers a layout similar to Rams Head Live in Baltimore, but smaller and reserved seating in the balcony. It's character comes from a panoramic view of the steel towers behind the stage. It's a beautiful venue with some great amenities.

moe. established themselves in their new surroundings with a perfectly structured set that tore the place apart. The energy was high as the sun set with Runaway Overlude and a Cathedral > 32 Things to start things off. This trio of songs alone could have been the highlight of any show, but moe. was just getting started. The newly revived reggae version of Letter Home was next and fit nicely into this portion of the night. Both Happy Hour Hero and Crab Eyes were the only choices that were fairly standard, but Al particularly was definitely digging it.

The second set was where things really took off. A stretched out Spine of A Dog led right into Jazz Wank and would set the tone for the rest of the evening. The crowd was loving The Ghost of Ralph's Mom that followed. It was really the last segment and encore that brought this show to a different level. Puebla > Queen of Everything > CIA > Time Ed showcased some of the best moe. I've seen in a while. If that wasn't enough, the crowd's Meat chant was answered and a twenty minute encore ensued. There was even some mention of playing Brain Tuba by Al during his announcements. PLEASE let it happen at moe.down!

The quality of the recording doesn't match the greatness of this show. We were put in the worst spot and the recording suffers because of it. Word to anyone planning to record here: Get balcony seats and clamp! This show is well worth the couple bucks from Livedownloads.com for the soundboard when it's available. Until then enjoy the best my MK41's can offer from a poor location!

moe. Live at Musikfest Cafe Download

Levon Helm & moe. - Midnight Ramble - 03.12.11

I'm playing a little catchup since my life revolved around the wedding for the past few months. Even though I was busy there was still a little time to squeeze in a couple shows here and there. One show, or should I say experience, trumped them all. On a cold week in March we made the pilgrimage to Woodstock for a Midnight Ramble at Levon Helm's barn. The opening band just happened to be moe.

Levon, drummer of The Band, has called Woodstock home for quite some time. During the late sixties Bob Dylan and the The Band could be found in this quaint town making music history. It's no wonder why they called this town home. You really need to stroll through the heart of town to understand it's charm, where both locals and out of towners enjoyed the sunny, brisk day.

Although the town itself was worth the trip, most visitors made the trek for one reason: Levon's Midnight Ramble with moe. So what is a Midnight Ramble you ask? Well, I'll let Levon explain it:

When the opportunity to see moe. play a ramble presented itself I knew I had to be there. Tickets didn't last long since moe. draws well in the area. Fortunately they were secured and we were on our way to see a living legend entertain us in his home studio (BIG THANKS TO DON!!!!!). The website says not to show up to the property until after 6pm, but we couldn't resist the urge to snap a couple pictures in the daylight:








With a little bit of time to kill before dinner there was one more mission that needed to be accomplished: Find Big Pink. It's very possible you've never heard of Big Pink, but I'm sure you've heard at least one piece of music written there:

A quick google search will get you the address and directions. Since it's a private property and you have to drive down a narrow winding road to reach Big Pink you get the feeling trouble could be waiting at the end. After all, how would you feel to have trespassers? We were respectful and stayed just long enough to snap a couple pics and let our minds wander a bit:






After a great meal a Joshua's, it was finally time to get down. Pulling into the "lot" felt more like a backyard BBQ than anything else. The empty fire pit we saw earlier in the day was going strong. I'll never forget the smell of that fire mixed with the fresh mountain air. It was calling you inside to the party.

I will say the tickets are expensive at $125 to $150, but it is worth every penny for obvious reasons. As an added bonus you can bring beer, wine, whiskey, or your drink of choice and go in and out as you please to fill your cup (I chose a cooler full of homebrews!). The community table is filled with free food from all over the place too. So I think it's safe to say the high ticket price is trivial. GO if you have a chance. Don't even think about it!

What can be said about the music played in the barn other than it represented everything that's right about live music. The line between performer and audience is non existent, which is something that truly makes live music much more special in my eyes. moe. gave us what we came for: A set mixing old and new with enough jamming to satisfy. Rebubla was great, but I think Downward Facing Dog was my highlight.

Levon is amazing. This was the second time I've seen him perform and the man rocks harder at 70 than most have in their entire lives. The night went too fast, but I do remember highlights being Ophelia, Deep Elum Blues, Attics of My Life and obviously The Weight with Chuck and Al. Out of respect for Levon there was no recording on this night. It was meant to be that way... some things are meant to stay inside the barn.

The Electric Lemoe.nade Acid Test - 12.04.10 - Albany, NY

Fans attending the University of Albany men's basketball game must have been scratching their heads last Saturday in Albany. You see, it was mischief night in Albany and the freaks were out celebrating Halloween a month late. Due to unforeseen circumstances moe.'s annual Halloween show, originally scheduled for October 30th, needed to be moved to December. Similar to last year, the theme of the show was voted on by fans on jambands.com. Anyone who purchased a ticket could submit one theme. The top 30 selected by the band were included in the vote. The Winner: The Electric Lemoe.nade Acid Test.

The possibilities were endless as the band could take this theme anywhere. I was certain it would be one for the ages considering December 4th 1965 marks the Grateful Dead's first performance. It was on this night 45 years ago the Warlocks changed their name to the Grateful Dead and performed at a Ken Kesey Acid Test. The stars were aligned, but my assumptions were way off. moe. had other plans for the test and executed them perfectly.

moe. delivered a psychedelic ride mixing old and new. When all was said and done the band performed five new songs for the first time. What made things more exciting is the fact each member wrote one: Chromatic Mind (jim.), Suck A Lemon (chuck.), No Refrain (rob.), Mar-Dema (vin.) and Silver Sun (al.). The new songs were intertwined with quintessential jam vehicles. Not Coming Down and Wormwood were first performed in 2002 and the rest have been around forever. For good measures moe. added Pink Floyd's Interstellar Overdrive to round off a jam filled evening.

moe. brought in a ton of additional lighting for Huffer to play with and even incorporated some technicolor lights created with colored liquid and glass. The crew of Big Nazo were invited to perform during the second set to maximize the sensory overload. It got weird as the band morphed into half alien creatures too. I'm told their was a storyline to all the antics, but I was too caught up with how great the band performed to follow.

The twenty year anniversary for moe. is already marked with so many highlights, but this will rank among them. The musical moe.ments of true improvisation and psychedelic jams are all here: WW > Interstellar Overdrive, meat > Mar-Dema > meat, Silver Sun > Rec Chem, and one of the best Busters I've seen recently. The production value of the evening could only be fully enjoyed in person. We passed the test with flying colors.

Download or Stream The Electric Lemoe.nade Acid Test at the LMA

Can YOU pass the test?

Link to jamforums.com for some excellent photographs: